 |  | | Osamaism Was Already Dead |  HAD Osama bin Laden been
killed during the presidency of
George W Bush, he might have
become an iconic martyr for
anti-Western movements
throughout the Muslim world. Those
days are gone. Jihadist websites mourn
their slain mentor, but few in the Arab
street care for a man who brought nothing
to the region but havoc and desolation,
provoked the United States into
waging war and, above all, reinforced
the very rulers whom radical Islamists
most wished to topple.
Arab despots initially saw their life
expectancies extended after 9/11: better
Ben Ali, the... |
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| |  | | UNWISDOM
OF ELITES | | THE past three years have
been a disaster for most
Western economies. The
United States has mass
long-term unemployment
for the first time since the 1930s.
Meanwhile, Europe´s single currency
is coming apart at the seams.
How did it all go so wrong?
Well, what I´ve been hearing with
growing frequency from members
of the policy elite - self-appointed
wise men, officials, and pundits in
good standing - is the claim that
it´s mostly the public´s fault. The
idea is that we got into this mess
because voters wanted something
for nothing, and weak-minded
politicians catered to the electorate´s
foolishness.
So this seems... |
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FIFA members accused of demanding cash for votes
AFP
LONDON FIFA WAS rocked by new allegations of corruption on Tuesday, with England’s 2018 World Cup bid chairman accusing senior officials of demanding cash and honours in return for votes.
In explosive testimony before a parliamentary select committee, Lord David Triesman spoke at length on the story behind England’s disastrous World Cup campaign, which ended in a humiliating defeat in Zurich last December.
He revealed that Jack Warner, the influential head of the North and Central American federation CONCACAF, had demanded to be paid directly around £2.5 million ($4 million) for construction of schools in Trinidad.
“He was concerned he had nothing he could regard as his legacy, he had in mind some kind of school of educational establishment,” Triesman revealed.
Triesman, who had met Warner along with England 2018 deputy chairman Sir Dave Richards, said the request was rejected immediately.
“I said immediately the proposition was out of the question.
Sir Dave said ‘You must be joking Jack.
You’re probably talking about £2.5 million.
“Jack nodded at that.
He said that the money could be channelled through him and he would guarantee the funds would be appropriately spent.” In a second incident involving Warner, Triesman revealed how the Trinidadian official had contacted him following the devastating Haiti earthquake in January 2010 which claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people.
Triesman said Warner had suggested that “somebody could make a donation” to secure rights to broadcast the 2010 World Cup in Haiti on giant television screens in order to lift the spirits of the shattered nation.
“He said £500,000 sent to him he could secure those rights,” Triesman said.
In another incident, Triesman revealed that Paraguayan Nicolas Leoz, the head of the South American federation CONMEMBOL, had requested a knighthood during a meeting in Asuncion in November 2009.
The same month, Triesman and English bid members met Brazilian official Ricardo Teixeira.
After remarking to Teixeira that he was happy to have heard positive sentiment about England’s bid from former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Teixeira had replied: “Lula is nothing, you come and tell me what you have for me.” The fourth official named by Triesman was Thailand’s Worawi Makudi, who had demanded to be awarded broadcasting rights of a possible friendly match between England and Thailand in Bangkok that had been pencilled in for 2011.
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